Francesco Molinari celebrated his Open Championship victory by sharing the Claret Jug with those who he says believed he was capable of becoming a Major Champion long before he did.
The 35 year old claimed his maiden Major title with a nerveless display at Carnoustie last month, seeing off the challenge of Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose in the final round to win The Open.
Molinari enjoyed a scheduled holiday after his victory in Scotland and he chose to keep the celebrations low key, getting used to having the Claret Jug in his possession and, rather than drinking from it, allowing his coach to sleep with it.
He said: "Nothing has gone in it yet. I'm not a big drinker, so to fill it with water would be a bit of a blasphemy it feels like.
"I'm sure there will be times at the end of the season when everything comes down that something goes in it but not yet.
"Then my coach was there a few days last week to get ready and he put in a special request to sleep with the Claret Jug one night, so I was happy to share it with him.
"Yeah, it's just fun to have it around sitting on the table. Obviously, the kids love it and it's nice to have it with us."
A busy summer, which has already seen the Italian win the BMW PGA Championship, The Open and the Quicken Loans National in America, continues for Molinari as he prepares to take on the very best players once again at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this week.
The World Number Six, who has also secured top-two finishes at the John Deere Classic and Italian Open in recent months, is hoping to keep the momentum going at Firestone Country Club.
Molinari attributed his recent good form to the hard work put in by his team, who have helped him reach the next level.
And the Italian now feels he can compete with anyone in the world.
He said: "We planned the holiday for last week, obviously before knowing what was going to happen but it worked out well.
"I got a lot of rest last week. Now it's time to get working again.
"I've started working the last few days there hitting balls and just trying to get ready for this week.
"So yeah, we'll see. I know it's going to be a challenge, obviously now, to keep what I have going and I'll see how well I can deal with that.
"Just a lot of work from the guys around me (has got me here), to be honest. They probably believed already, before the recent results, they believed in me more than I ever did.
"It's taken a long time for them to keep telling me and to help me achieve things that were shown to myself that I was that kind of player.
"So I think for me personally, the key's always been results, but also, you know, when you go out on the course and you're playing with some of the best players in the world, you confront yourself with them.
"And I think a few years back, obviously I was competing against them, but I always felt like they had something that I didn't have, and now it feels like I can play with them and, you know, I don't feel intimidated in any way."
